Microsoft Gets Sane About XBox Pricing

Microsoft will release a cheaper version of its XBox One system on June 9, the company announced today.The pricing change will put the gaming system at the same price as Sony’s PlayStation 4, which by March had outsold its competitor by about 2 million units since the two new systems were both released last fall.

Microsoft isn’t exactly lowering the price. It’s debundling the system from the motion-sensitive Kinect widget, which has been described as buggy by some and useless by others. Microsoft will also end its requirement of a $60 per year payment to access streaming services and some other special features, which some gamers consider a colossal ripoff.

It will be interesting to see if being on pricing par with PlayStation boosts sales for Microsoft. That Microsoft is going to the exact same price suggests there’s some pressure to improve on their existing numbers. Still looking better than Nintendo, at least.